“Think what you do when you run in debt; you give to another the power over your liberty.”—Benjamin Franklin

Slavery or involuntary servitude is the result of either subjugation by conquest or succumbing to the bondage of debt. Debt, of course, is simply borrowing against the future. It exchanges a present advantage for a future obligation. It will require not only the return of the original advance of funds, but a substantial compensation to the creditor for the use of his money.

The Founders knew that borrowing can be an honorable procedure in a time of crisis, but they deplored it just the same. They looked upon it as a temporary handicap which should be alleviated at the earliest possible moment.

They had undergone sufficient experience with debt to see its corrosive and debilitating effect, which tends to corrupt both individuals and nations. In the case of the individual, excessive debt greatly curtails the freedom of the debtor. It benumbs his spirit, He often feels hesitant to seek a new location or change a profession. He passes up financial opportunities which a free man might risk. Heavy debt introduces an element of taint into a man’s search for happiness. There seems to be a perpetual burden every waking hour. There is a sense of being perpetually threatened as he rides the razor’s edge of potential disaster.

There is also the sense of waste—much like the man who has to make payments on a dead horse. It is money spent for pleasures or even needs that are long since past, It often means sleepless nights, recoiling under the burden of a grinding weight which is constantly increasing with every tick of the clock, and often at usurious rates.